JPH08154866A - Foot drier - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a foot drier whose structure is simple and which is formed as inexpensive goods and whose working place extends over a wide range such as a public bath, a leisure center, a home for the aged, a hotel and a golf course needless to say a general home and which is convenient in use and whose spread degree is high by incorporating a compact and simple hot air generating means into a housing. CONSTITUTION: A foot drier is provided with a housing composed of box-shaped upper casing 10 and lower casing 20 having plural blowoff holes 11 being hot air blowoff ports on an upper surface, a hot air generating means 30 which is installed in the housing and generates hot air by driving a fan 32 by a motor 31 around which a heater 33 is arranged and a duct 13 to function as an air blowing passage to send hot air generated by the hot air generating means 30 to the blowoff holes 11 of an upper surface of the upper casing 10 of the housing.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a foot dryer, and more particularly, a housing is provided with a warm air generating means for generating a warm air by driving a fan by a motor having a heater arranged around it. The present invention relates to a foot dryer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a foot dryer has existed as a product, but it is also expensive and has hardly been on the market.
It wasn't so popular at all. These foot dryers are those which sit on a chair or the like at the office or at home, put the feet on the chair, and operate a predetermined switch to blow an air flow to dry the feet.

Most of the foot dryers of this type dry the feet with warm air, and the means for generating warm air is usually
It is composed of a blower including a motor and a fan, and a heater for heating. FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a conventional warm air generating means.

The warm air generating means shown in FIG.
A heater 4 for heating is disposed behind a blower 3 including a fan 2 and a fan 2. The wind generated by the rotation of the fan 2 by the motor 1 is heated when passing through the heater 4 portion to become warm air. . Further, the warm air generating means of (b) has a heater 4 arranged in front of the blower 3, and the air heated in the heater 2 portion is blown by the rotation of the fan 2 by the motor 1 to become warm air. . In short, (a) and (b) of FIG.
Although the arrangement order of the blower 3 and the heater 4 is different, the function of generating warm air is the same.

[0005]

However, in the foot dryer for drying the feet with warm air, there is provided a hot air generating means having a structure in which a blower including a motor and a fan and a heater for heating are arranged in a row. It was difficult to assemble compactly in the housing. Therefore, the conventional foot dryer is inevitably a relatively large-scale device, has a high manufacturing cost, has a strong image as a health appliance rather than a necessity, and is not suitable for sales expansion.

Further, in order to carefully wipe a wet foot after taking a bath, it is necessary to bend down and tend to be neglected because it is a relatively troublesome operation for an old man and the like. Moreover, even if I wiped my feet with a towel, my feet were still damp, and I couldn't completely dry them after a while.
In particular, in recent years, the morning sun has become prevalent, and it has been difficult to take a shower or the like and quickly dry the toes even during busy morning hours. Under such circumstances, although there is a potential demand for a foot dryer, it has not been widely used because of its strong image as a special product and high price.

In view of the above, the present invention provides a compact and simple warm air generating means in the housing to provide an inexpensive product with a simple structure, and the place to be used is not only for general households but also for public baths, leisure centers, It is an object of the present invention to provide an easy-to-use and highly popular foot drying device that covers a wide range of nursing homes, hotels, golf courses, and the like.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a foot drying apparatus, wherein a fan having a housing having an outlet for hot air on an upper surface thereof and a motor mounted in the housing and having a heater arranged around the fan is used. It is provided with a warm air generating means that is driven to generate warm air, and an air passage for blowing the warm air generated by the warm air generating means to the air outlet on the upper surface of the housing.

Further, in the foot drying apparatus according to the invention of claim 2, the warm air generating means of claim 1 is heated when the wind generated by the rotation of the fan passes through the heater portion to become warm air. It is a thing.

In the foot drying apparatus according to the invention of claim 3, the warm air generating means of claim 1 or 2 operates via a limit switch.

[0011]

According to the foot drying apparatus of the present invention, the warm air generated by the warm air generating means for driving the fan by the motor having the heater arranged around it to generate the warm air passes through the air passage, Blow out from the warm air outlet on the top of the housing.

According to the foot drying apparatus of the second aspect of the present invention, the warm air generated by the warm air generating means is heated when the wind generated by the rotation of the fan by the motor is heated through the heater portion. The wind passes through the air passage and blows out from the air outlet on the upper surface of the housing.

According to the foot drying apparatus of the third aspect of the present invention, the warm air generating means is actuated via the limit switch, and the warm air generated by the warm air generating means passes through the air passage and blows on the upper surface of the housing. Blow out from the exit.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a foot drying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing an AA cross section of the foot drying apparatus of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a side view showing the warm air generating means incorporated in the foot drying device.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, this foot drying apparatus is roughly divided into various devices assembled in the upper casing 10 and various devices assembled in the lower casing 20. Is slidably assembled to the lower casing 20. Inside the upper casing 10 and the lower casing 20, a warm air generating means and an air passage are incorporated.

As shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of blow-out holes 11 are provided in the upper surface of the upper casing 10, and an air flow such as warm air for drying the foot blows from each blow-out hole 11. It is supposed to be released. These blow-out holes 11 are respectively formed in the depressions between the bead-shaped protrusions 12 so that the holes are not closed by the sole of the foot when the foot is placed. A flange 10a is provided around the upper casing 10.
Are formed, and are integrally manufactured by press forming or the like using a steel plate.

On the back surface of the upper casing 10, a blowout hole 1
The ducts 13 communicating with the No. 1 are respectively arranged, and the warm air generating means 30 is attached to each end of the ducts 13. The duct 13 functions as a hot air blowing path, and may be formed of a soft synthetic resin having a degree of freedom of deformation, or a steel plate or a hard synthetic resin. In addition, cylindrical columns 14 that support the upper casing 10 in a slidable manner with respect to the lower casing 20 are provided at the four corners of the back surface of the upper casing 10.

The lower casing 20 also has a flange portion 20a formed around the lower casing 20 and is integrally manufactured by press forming using a steel plate. Posts 21 are vertically provided at four corners in the lower casing 20 at positions corresponding to the cylindrical columns 14 of the upper casing 10. The columns 21 of the lower casing 20 are inserted in the cylindrical columns 14 of the upper casing 10 in a vertically slidable manner. Moreover, the spring 2 is provided around the column 21.
2 is interposed, and the upper casing 10 and the lower casing 20 are assembled via the spring 22 so as to be vertically slidable. The outer circumference of the flange portion 20a of the lower casing 20 is smaller than the inner circumference of the flange portion 10a of the upper casing 10, and the lower casing 20 is inserted into the upper casing 10. A predetermined gap is formed between the flange portion 20a of the lower casing 20 and the flange portion 10a of the upper casing 10, and outside air can be taken into the upper casing 10 and the lower casing 20 through this gap. It is like this. In addition, the lower casing 20
The support legs 23 are provided at the four corners of the back surface of the.

The warm air generating means 30 is for generating a warm air by driving a fan 32 by a motor 31 around which a heater 33 is arranged. More specifically, the fan 32 is fixed to a rotary shaft of the motor 31. In addition, around the motor 31, a heater 33 made of a heating wire or the like is provided at a predetermined interval.
Is provided. A current plate (not shown) in the heater 33
Incorporating the above, the hot air flows more smoothly through the heater 33 around the motor 31. An intake section 34 is formed on the end side of the fan 32. Therefore, the motor 31
When the fan 32 is driven and the fan 32 rotates, an air flow is generated by the air sucked from the intake section 10, and this air flow is warmed when passing through the heater 33, and passes through the duct 13 that functions as a hot air blowing path. As a result, warm air for drying the feet is blown out from each of the blowout holes 11. When the heater 33 is not used, that is, when the heater 33 is not in the heating state, the motor 31
The airflow generated by the fan 32 is not heated and is blown out from each of the blowout holes 3 in the same temperature state.

A limit switch 24 is incorporated in the lower casing 20 to turn on and off as the upper casing 10 supported by the columns 21 of the lower casing 20 moves up and down. The limit switch 24 is turned on when a load larger than a predetermined amount acts on the upper surface of the upper casing 10 and the upper casing 10 moves downward against the urging force of the spring 22, and the upper casing 10 is in the unloaded state. The upper casing 10 moves to the upper position by the urging force of the spring 22 and returns to its original position to be in the OFF state. The upper casing 10 functions as a switch of the foot drying device, and the motor 31 of the warm air generating means 30 and The heater 33 is turned on and off.

In the foot dryer having the above-described structure, when a person is placed on the upper surface of the upper casing 10, the upper casing 10 is lowered downward against the urging force of the spring 22 according to the weight of the person. The limit switch 24 is activated,
Turns on. As a result, the motor 31 of the warm air generating means 30 is driven, the fan 32 is rotated, the heater 33 is heated, and the warm air generated by the warm air generating means 30 is discharged from the blowout holes 11 of the upper casing 10. Blow out.

When a person descends from the upper casing 10, the spring 22 returns to its original state, the upper casing 10 returns to its original height position, and the limit switch 40 is turned off. As a result, the motor 31 of the warm air generating means 30 is stopped and the power supply to the heater 33 is stopped.

Therefore, in the foot drying apparatus of this embodiment, the warm air generating means 30 operates only by placing it on the upper casing 10, and the hot air for drying feet is blown out from each of the outlet holes 11 of the upper casing 10. Therefore, the wet bare feet can be dried while being placed on the upper casing 10. Then, the warm air generating means 30 is stopped only by getting off from the upper casing 10.

Here, a schematic structure of an electric circuit of the foot drying apparatus will be described. FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram showing a circuit configuration of a foot drying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 4, two motors 54 and 55 are connected in parallel via a power switch 52 and a limit switch 53 to a commercial power source 51 which is an AC power source of 100V. The motors 54 and 55 are DC motors and are connected to the commercial power supply 51 via a rectifier circuit (not shown). In a normal use state, the power switch 52 is in an on state, and when a person gets on and off the foot dryer, the limit switch 53 is turned on and off, and the driving of the motors 54 and 55 is controlled. To be done. The limit switch 53 corresponds to the above-mentioned limit switch 40, and the motors 54 and 55 include the warm air generating means 30.
Of the motor 31.

The heater 5 is attached to each motor 54, 55.
6, 57 series bodies are connected in parallel, and each heater 5
The motors 6 and 57 are arranged around the motors 54 and 55 at predetermined intervals. By turning on the heater switch 58, these heaters 56 and 57 can be heated. Therefore, when the heater switch 58 is in the ON state, the limit switch 53 is turned on and off by a person getting on and off the foot dryer, and the heater 56,
57 is also on / off controlled. The heaters 56 and 57 correspond to the heater 33 described above. In addition, each heater 56, 5
7 may be connected in parallel to each motor 54, 55,
If the heater switch 58 is always turned on, the motor 31 and the heater 33 always operate simultaneously in response to the operation of the limit switch 53. A bimetal 59 for preventing heating is inserted in the heaters 56 and 57 to ensure safety. In addition, a fuse 60 is inserted to ensure the safety of the entire circuit.

In this foot dryer, the drive of the motors 54, 55 is controlled by the on / off operation of the limit switch 53, but as shown by the two-dot chain line in the figure, the switch 61 is separately provided. It is also possible to manually control the operations of the motors 54 and 55 and the heaters 56 and 57 by providing the above. By operating this switch 61, the foot dryer can be appropriately operated as needed even if no person is placed on the upper casing 10. In this case, it is not necessary to assemble the upper casing 10 to the lower casing 20 in a movable state. Further, although the commercial power supply 51 is used in this circuit configuration, the motors 54 and 55 may be driven by batteries or the like instead of the commercial power supply 51 so that the warm air generating means 30 operates. Further, another switch may be used instead of the limit switch 53.

As described above, the foot drying apparatus according to the present embodiment has a box-shaped upper casing 10 and a lower casing 20 each having a plurality of outlets 11, which are hot air outlets, on the upper surface thereof, and the inside of the housing. And a warm air generating means 30 for generating a warm air by driving a fan 32 by a motor 31 having a heater 33 arranged around it, and a warm air generated by the warm air generating means 30 in an upper casing of the housing. 10 is provided with a duct 13 that functions as an air passage for blowing air to the blowout hole 11 on the upper surface.

Therefore, the hot air generated by the warm air generating means 30 for driving the fan 32 by the motor 31 having the heater 33 arranged around it to generate the warm air passes through the duct 13 (air blowing path) and moves to the housing. Since it blows out from the blow-out hole 11 (blow-out port) on the upper surface of the upper casing 10, the warm air generating means 3
0 can be compactly assembled in the housing, and the manufacturing cost is low. As a result, not only general households but also public baths, leisure centers, nursing homes, hotels, golf courses, and the like are widely used, and the degree of popularization increases. In addition, since it can be installed in few places, space saving can be promoted and it is easy to use.

In particular, in this embodiment, the wind generated by the rotation of the fan 32 is heated as it passes through the motor 31 to become warm air, and the warm air generated by the warm air generating means 30 passes through the duct 13. Passage hole 11 on the upper surface of the upper casing 10
Since it is configured to blow out from, the warm air can be efficiently generated by the warm air generating means 30.

Further, in the foot drying apparatus of this embodiment, the limit switch 24 is operated when a person is placed on the upper casing 10.
The warm air generating means 30 is operated via the
The warm air generating means 30 is stopped only by descending from 0. Therefore, there is no need to perform a troublesome switch operation, and the usability is further improved.

Further, if the heater 33 is made to operate together with the motor 31, the blowout hole 11 of the upper casing 10
Since hot air is constantly blown from the feet to dry the wet feet in a shorter time, the drying efficiency is improved, and the time for drying the feet can be shortened even when the user is busy. Especially in cold winter months, the warm air will keep your feet cool, which will increase the utility value.

By the way, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the foot drying device in which the air flow such as the warm air for drying the feet is simply blown out from the blowout hole 11 of the upper casing 10 has been described, but the ozone generator is provided in the duct 13 or the like. By blowing out an air flow mixed with ozone, there is a bactericidal effect and a deodorizing effect, and the bare feet can be dried cleanly. Further, if an ultraviolet ray generator is provided below the blowout hole 11 and the foottip is irradiated with the ultraviolet ray from the blowout hole 11, the germicidal action of the ultraviolet ray also has the effect of preventing athlete's foot.

Besides, in the above embodiment, the foot drying device in which a plurality of blowout holes 11 are provided on the upper surface of the upper casing 10 and the air flow for drying the feet is blown upward has been described. A protrusion may be provided, and a blowout hole may be provided in the protrusion so that the air flow for drying the feet blows out horizontally along the upper surface of the upper casing 10. Further, if a cover portion or the like is provided in front of the upper casing 10 and a blowout hole is provided in the cover portion so that an air flow for drying the feet is blown out, the toes are thrust into the cover portion to allow the toes to be blown. Can also be dried more effectively.

Further, in the above embodiment, the two motors 31
The foot drying device having a structure in which a warm air generating means 30 including a heater 33 and the like is used to generate and blow an air stream such as warm air for drying feet has been described. Alternatively, the warm air generating means 30 may generate and blow the air stream for drying the feet.

Further, in the above embodiment, since the upper casing 10 is slidably mounted on the lower casing 20, the duct 13 having a degree of freedom of deformation made of a soft synthetic resin is used as the hot air blowing passage. 2, the ducts 13 can be arranged vertically in the housing as shown in FIG. 2, and the warm air generating means 30 is attached to either the upper casing 10 or the lower casing 20 to generate warm air. A predetermined gap may be provided above or below the means 30 so that the upper casing 10 can move vertically. Further, the duct 13 made of a steel plate or hard synthetic resin is assembled on the upper casing 10 side, and the duct 13
The foot drying device may have a structure in which the warm air generating means 30 is assembled to the inside. In this case, the duct 13 and the warm air generating means 30 are provided.
It is necessary to provide a gap below the upper part of the upper casing 10 so that the upper casing 10 can move up and down. However, when a manually operated switch is adopted instead of the limit switch 24, the upper casing 10 is placed in a movable state so that the lower casing 2 can be moved.
Since it is not necessary to assemble it to 0, the duct 13 and the warm air generating means 30 can be arranged in the entire housing.

Upper casing 10 and lower casing 2
Although 0 has been described as being integrally manufactured by press molding using a steel plate in the above embodiment, it may be manufactured by injection molding using a synthetic resin.

[0038]

As described above, in the foot drying apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, the warm air generated by the warm air generating means for driving the fan by the motor having the heater arranged to generate the warm air is generated. Since it blows out from the air outlet on the upper surface of the housing through the air passage, the warm air generating means can be compactly incorporated in the casing, and the product has a simple structure and is inexpensive, and the popularity is increased and the usability is improved.

In the foot drying apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention, the warm air generated by the warm air generating means is heated when the wind generated by the rotation of the fan by the motor passes through the heater portion and becomes warm air. Since the air flows through the air passage and is blown out from the air outlet on the upper surface of the housing, the warm air generating means can be compactly incorporated in the casing, and the warm air can be efficiently generated.

In the foot dryer of the third aspect of the present invention, the warm air generating means is actuated via the limit switch, and the warm air generated by this warm air generating means passes through the air blowing path and comes out from the outlet on the upper surface of the housing. Since it blows out, the foot dryer can be used just by actuating the limit switch by mounting it on the upper surface of the housing, etc. There is no need to operate a special switch, and the usability is further improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a foot dryer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing an AA cross section of the foot drying apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing a warm air generating means incorporated in a foot drying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram showing a circuit configuration of a foot dryer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a conventional warm air generating means.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Upper Casing 11 Blow-out Hole 13 Duct 14 Cylindrical Column 20 Lower Casing 21 Strut 22 Spring 24 Limit Switch 30 Hot Air Generating Means 31 Motor 32 Fan 33 Heater

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A housing having a hot air outlet on an upper surface, warm air generating means for driving the fan by a motor mounted in the housing, and having a heater disposed around the housing, and generating the warm air. A foot drying device, comprising: an air passage for blowing the warm air generated by the wind generating means to the air outlet on the upper surface of the housing. 2. The foot drying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the warm air generating means is heated when the wind generated by the rotation of the fan passes through the heater portion to become warm air. 3. The foot drying device according to claim 1, wherein the warm air generating means is operated via a limit switch.